Word: fatah
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...advocate unity between Abbas' Fatah party and Hamas, but how can you have a peace agreement that includes a group that doesn't accept Israel's legitimacy? You are entering into negotiations where there is a group of Israelis who say they don't want Palestinians in their land and want a Jewish homeland only. You have that kind of position on both sides. We hope reasonable people, people of peace and good faith, will...
Hamas commanders saw the 200,000-strong Arafat memorial rally by as a provocation, a challenge to their rule in the Gaza Strip by rivals of the Fatah movement, loyal to President Abbas. Hamas routed Fatah fighters in Gaza last June, but Arafat's old militia still has many followers in Gaza, judging from the rally's size. Gaza sources also said that many Palestinians attended the memorial as a protest against Hamas's tightening control over Gaza, which has triggered international sanctions by Israel and the international community on Gaza's 1.5 million residents. Palestinians in Gaza face constant...
Since taking over Gaza, Hamas has banned opposition rallies, but they relented for Arafat's memorial ceremony. A controversial figure among many Palestinians, Arafat nonetheless maintains a strong following for his leadership during the decades-long fight against Israel. On Monday, Fatah claimed that Hamas gunmen opened fire as a wave of Fatah supporters approached the Islamic University, and chaos ensued as the marchers fled between buildings draped with giant murals of Arafat's grizzled visage. But Hamas insists that Fatah snipers on the rooftops were the first to shoot...
Tension has risen between Hamas and Fatah in recent months, after Abbas loyalists struck back against the Gaza takeover by arresting hundreds of Hamas supporters inside the West Bank territory. In Gaza, Hamas officials accuse Fatah militant cells of setting off roadside bombs aimed at Hamas patrols. Apparently, according to Gaza journalists and eyewitnesses, those past incidents made Hamas fighters, unskilled at policing even small crowds, ready to lash out during the Fatah rally...
...summit in Annapolis, Maryland, later this month. Ahmed Qurie, chief Palestinian negotiator with the Israelis, compared Hamas's reign in Gaza to the Israeli occupation inside the Palestinian territories. "The policy of silencing the other side will not win," he said. Meanwhile, a Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri blamed Fatah for provoking the latest Gaza shooting. With reporting by Jamil Hamad/Bethlehem